CHRONICLE-HERALD (Halifax, Nova Scotia) 07 August 05 Valley man goes fishing, winds up wrestling turtle (Kim Kierans)

A trip to scout for pollywogs and killifish in a pond in Port Williams turned into an adventure. Mitch Gilderson had just finished teaching a young boy how to catch frogs when he spotted a huge reptile at the bottom of the pond.

"I said to the boy, 'There's a turtle. Stay back,' " he told Janice Hudson of The Advertiser in Kentville.

"I dove in after him. Once I got down there I realized he was much bigger than I had expected. I thought he was about one foot (a third of a metre) long, but he's probably about two feet long. So I grabbed him by the tail and hoisted him up."

That's not something Mr. Gilderson said he'd normally do. Grabbing a turtle by the tail may damage its vertebrae, but he said the struggle was like "trying to catch an alligator" and he didn't want to get bitten.

"They move faster than we can and when they get flesh they know it and hold on, which can cause permanent damage and even take a finger or two," said Mr. Gilderson.

Normally, however, snapping turtles are not dangerous. "Their first instinct is to escape so they shouldn't really be feared unless you're going to mess with them."

Before he put the turtle back in the pond, Mr. Gilderson took it home to show his wife and five-month-old daughter in Kentville.

"I wanted to know how much it weighed and to have pictures taken so people would believe me and see that it wasn't just a fish tale, or turtle tale, I guess you'd say."
Valley man goes fishing, winds up wrestling turtle

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